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Vinyl records

Yes, they still make vinyl records, and believe it or not, they never stopped. Even when we swore that our Walkman, iPod, whatever, would replace all musical media, someone, somewhere, was still buying those giant, ancient vinyl discs.

Those rituals needed for playing a vinyl record (storage, cleaning, turning, art, materials, size, flea markets etc.) are all contributing to a pleasure of listening. Vinyl is a format that takes some extra effort — and often rewards it.

More interesting facts concerning vinyl records

The cutting stylus vibrates 1000 times per second and is affected by an acceleration of 90 G! The labels and vinyl are pressed under a pressure of 100-150 tons at a temperature of 160°.
An LP typically contains 18-22 minutes of music per side. For a 20 minutes long side, the spiral groove is around 427 meters long and consists of 667 threads. The basic width of the groove is approx. 0.04 – 0.08 mm (40 – 80 µm). So 2.23 seconds of audio is stored per square centimeter.
If the reference sinus signal 0 dB is cut into the master plate, deviations of 0.0225 mm (22.5 µm) can be found when the groove is examined under a microscope. Lower level signals, which are 100 times (-40 dB) to 300 times (-50 dB) quieter, and are still part of the audio, have proportionately lower deviations – 0.000225 mm to 0.000075 mm (225 nm to 75 nm). These values are significantly lower than the wavelength of visible light, but such small details are still accurately transferred to the final pressed record.
Nothing will ever beat the rich, natural sound of a vinyl record.
(source: Gramofónové Závody)
(More links: SST)